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Monthly Archives: January 2008

Quico says: Just recently, Javier Marías wrote this thought-provokingly quasi-reactionary little screed in The New Republic presenting a “defense” of democracy startling for its frank avowal of its shortcomings: Few people would deny that, however imperfect, democracy is still the fairest, most acceptable and most reasonable system of government. Not so much because the voters…

Katy says: It’s always a challenge to write about Venezuela from abroad. Much of what happens in the country depends on moods: the mood of the government, the press, the opposition, the voters, and obviously tapping into them is more difficult when you’re not there. However, I get the feeling that the government is slowly…

Katy says: It’s always a challenge to write about Venezuela from abroad. Much of what happens in the country depends on moods: the mood of the government, the press, the opposition, the voters, and obviously tapping into them is more difficult when you’re not there. However, I get the feeling that the government is slowly…

Katy says: Today the opposition to Chavez signed an agreement on 10 points for the future of the country. The 10 points they committed to are: 1. Rescuing public institutions and respecting their autonomy2. Respect for ideological plurality3. Descentralization4. Security, the defense of human life and the end to impunity5. Respect for private property6. Fighting…

Quico says: How big a hit did Chávez’s popularity take after his referendum defeat last year? According to Datos, by the third week in December just 30% of Venezuelans were expressing confidence in Chávez personally, and a paltry 21% still had confidence in the government. That’s just dismal. We haven’t seen numbers like these since…

Quico says: I’m on record complaining bitterly about the fragmentation of Venezuela’s opposition into more and more tiny and ineffective parties. But recently, I’ve been wondering how new this structure really is…and to what extent can we think of these little parties as real parties? It was this story that got me thinking: a spokesman…

Quico says: I’m on record complaining bitterly about the fragmentation of Venezuela’s opposition into more and more tiny and ineffective parties. But recently, I’ve been wondering how new this structure really is…and to what extent can we think of these little parties as real parties? It was this story that got me thinking: a spokesman…